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Saturday, September 22, 2012

A Little Q&A with Lisa Bilbrey

Since I have been tied up in
formatting two books due to be released in the next few weeks, time has been at
an absolute premium. In addition, when I find free time, I’ve been pecking away
(if you ever saw me type you would realize PECK is definitely the operative
word!) at a new short story of my own. With the stories for the new Candy
Collection Compilation, Harvest Treats, all
featuring a YA storyline, I thought who better than to ask blog questions than
my own new teenager.

McKenzie turned 13 on September
15th. She is an avid reader, and has a lot of interest in what it is
that I do all day with regards to my writing and my work at Renaissance Romance Publishing.. For a change of pace, I decided to let her handle my next
four blog posts. She decided on the questions and interviewed each of the
four authors who contributed to Harvest
Treats. I hope you enjoy the Q & A as much as I did. I knew she was
bright, but her insightfulness was refreshing.

Today’s post features Lisa
Bilbrey, author of The Journey Home
from the compilation, as well as many other great stories. On to the interview:

*****

McKenzie: How do you get your
mindset to write a young adult theme?

Lisa: I don’t try to do anything
differently, really. With every character I write, I try to put myself in their
shoes and let them tell me their story. Sometimes that’s easy — other times,
not so much. For me at least, the most important part is just to keep pushing
forward.

McKenzie: How are you able to get a good plot without
over-explaining?

Lisa: That is very hard and
really the only way is with lots of work. I like to use outlines. With them, I
can plot out the chapters so that I am not showing all my tricks at once. The
most important advice I give writers is to draw their readers into their
stories by making them feel like they are inside the book. You do that by
keeping your characters real, their reactions to situations, and making sure
that they have a solid foundation. It’s not easy, but amazing when you do it
right.

McKenzie: How much time do you
put into an average story?

Lisa: For my shorter stories —
those around 25k — I spent a good 2-3 weeks working on them. With my longer
novels, like Angel’s Heart: The Keeper, I spent around 6-8 weeks. I try not to
focus on the time spent and just turn my attention to what my characters have
to say.

McKenzie: When and why did you
start writing?

Lisa: I started writing several
years ago when I found myself lying awake for all hours of the night with these
flashes running through my head. After about two weeks, I gave up and started
writing my first story. From there, everything just blew up and now, I can’t go
a day without writing.

McKenzie: Has there ever been a time when you couldn’t
think of any ideas?

Lisa: Not really. I always have
little scenes and flashes to work on, but I have had periods where I struggled
to get the words right and found myself flopping from story to story. Probably
why I have so many works in progress.

McKenzie: How hard is it to keep
your writing from interfering with your personal life?

Lisa: As a Mom, it’s very hard.
These kids actually think they need attention! Can you believe that? On a
serious note, my kids and husband understand when I need to focus. I try to
find the balance and sometimes I have days where I don’t get a single word
written. It’s hard, but my family needs me and when all is said and done, they
are my everything.

McKenzie: Do you tend to use your
kids/friends’ names in your stories?

Lisa: I tend to use my kids names
because, well, I love their names. But, I try to find the name that fits who my
characters are going to be. Sometimes that is easy, and other times, I find
myself scanning baby name lists trying to find something that feels right.

McKenzie: How do you stay
committed to your writing?

Lisa: Writing is a part of me —
who I am, and how I function. Without it, I don’t know what I would do every
day. I mean, there’s cleaning, but, yeah, that is not going to happen. I put a
lot of pressure on myself to meet my deadlines, to make each story the best it
can be. Sometimes, that’s easy, and sometimes it feels like pulling teeth. I
try to focus on getting the story out and hoping that someone out there will
want to read it.

McKenzie: A couple questions about
your publishing house, Renaissance Romance Publishing. What genres do you
feature?

Lisa: Renaissance Romance offer
stories from every genre — from supernatural romances to contemporary romances
and everything in between. Mainly, we look for solid storylines that showcase
strong relationships and growth within the characters. We want our readers to
be able to relate to our characters, and see bits and pieces of themselves in
each and every one of them. And if they can’t, then we hope that they get to
live in a fantasy world that takes them away from the real world for a few
hours.

McKenzie: Do you have a hard time
finding new authors, or are they all over the place?

Lisa: We’ve been very lucky so
far and found amazing authors — who have incredible talent. I’m a big believer
that nearly anyone can tell a story, they just need help learning how to write
it out.

*****

Wow! Great questions! Much love
and thanks to Lisa for indulging me, and to McKenzie for coming up with some
excellent questions. Stay tuned tomorrow to hear from another Harvest Treats author.

Don’t forget, Harvest Treats will release on
September 25th, and be available on Nook, Kindle, and Smashwords in assorted
ebook formats, and on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in paperback.

Fantastic interview... both in getting to know Lisa a little more (and realizing with her devotion you won't be disappointed when you pick up one of her stories) and inspirational to me personally as an aspiring author. Kenna, you may only be 13 (Happy Belated by the way) but you've got a great head on your shoulders and its good to know this won't be the last we see of you!